INTERVIEW: Thai post-rock band Inspirative

It has been an absolute pleasure these past few months getting in contact with tremendous bands from around Asia. Though we are a “punk-hardcore-metal” news website, we certainly include all our brethren under that MASSIVE umbrella: indie rock, post rock, emo, metalcore, deathcore, death metal, whatever…if at the heart of the music or band is a strong DIY mindset, then we’re ALL about supporting it.

Through genuine luck – I came across a song by a band called Inspirative from Thailand. I had no idea what to expect when I pressed play, but what I heard made me sit back, close my eyes and stop everything I was doing allowing myself to swim in the sounds that were coming out of my speakers. Here was a brand new band to me playing beautifully hypnotic post-rock the way it should be…

I started seeing on their Facebook page that they were gearing up for an album release show this July. Out of interest I sent a message to the band and was so excited to see the main man behind the band, Noppanan Panicharoen, respond right away. What transpired was some amazing few days sending messages back and forth to learn more about Inspirative and this new album. I’ve collected that whole conversation for all of you because THIS band is something you need to check out.

Enjoy the interview with Noppanan down below and please look out for this band on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/inspirative?fref=ts They are truly THAT good…

inspirative : interview

Can you tell me the inspiration behind your band? Why did you guys start Inspirative?
At first (around 2007), it was just a solo project of my own. I released 2 songs on a compilation album. After that, I wanted to play a gig so I started looking for other members and started playing shows. Because of all those experiences working with other people the direction of Inspirative began to change because it was no longer just my idea, it was now a band.

When you started in 2007 was it always post-rock and instrumental? Or was it different from now? And why did you change to the sound that Inspirative has now?
It was always post rock since back when I started this. But since Inspirative is now a full fledged band, the ingredients come from all the members. All our experiences in life and all our stories are shared between each other and that’s why what we’re creating now is so much more interesting then when I was doing it alone.

What is your bands main influences? Why did you guys choose to be an instrumental band?
Well, we’re heavily influenced by the postrock scene of the 2000’s with bands like Sigur Ros, Mono, Mum, etc. The reason we have kept it instrumental is that it really works for this genre and personally, I think it being completely musical is much more powerful than I could have ever imagined. I always thought that music with lyrics has more power, but with this medium of music the band is no longer leading a listener down a certain way of thinking. With instrumental music the listener is given more space to think and imagine. And all of these thoughts and imaginations are all based on their own experiences in life. The result is a mix of the listener’s own personal journey and thoughts conjured by the composer’s music and message.

It’s amazing…I love this.

When I compose music, I do have a message in the songs but it’s usually a very open-ended question which the listener will be able to answer themselves through their connections or thoughts as they’re hearing the music.

What has the reception been like in Bangkok for Inspirative? I think Bangkok has a great music scene but I don’t know much about post-rock or indie-rock music in Thailand.
Hold on…I have a meeting to get to now hahaha…

No problem man! We can do the interview over a few days!

[A couple hours later] In Bangkok the reception is quite good but not good enough to ever garner any interest by big time sponsors. Our fanbase is from small to about medium size who come check us out and buy merch.

When you mentioned that you actually have a message that you want to get across in your music, what are some of the messages you want to spread?
On the album Memories Come Rushing Up To Meet Me Now – just like its name implies, it’s all about memories. It offers the listener a way to be reminded of their childhood memories, high school, teenage romances, the good or bad experiences of their past life…all of these things can popping up in your mind as the music progresses on the album.

On the new album Mysteriously Awake we’re talking about a disorder called sleep paralysis. In Thailand we call it “Phee Um”.

Since we’re talking about your new album – can you tell us how the recording process was? Is it easy to find producers and studios in Thailand for post-rock?
The album was produced by my self hahaha…

WHAT?!?!?! That’s amazing! Where did you record it and how did you do it yourself?
It’s hard to find a producer that understands this genre and our band exactly…

So what we did was separate the recording into 2 parts…first we did the drums at a recording studio. After that, I set up a home studio to record all the other instruments. Then I mixed and mastered the whole thing. Actually, you can watch the whole recording process in the music video for the song Why that we released a few weeks ago.

Oh my gosh – that is AMAZING to hear how DIY this release was! So now that the album is finished how do you feel about the overall production and sound you were able to achieve?
I’m impressed! haha…I think it’s much better then the previous album.

Hahahahaha…that’s great man! I think it is very cool to produce your own music because you have an idea in your head and sometimes it’s so hard to translate that to someone else – like a producer. So now that the album is ready to be released in July – what are your plans for that release show?
I set up this show in a rather small venue that fits about 300-400 people. This way the audience that will come are the ones who really WANT to listen to our music. The show will contain a mix of old songs along with new songs, and I have a surprise for the audience also!

Wow! I feel you have a very punk rock attitude for your music! The DIY style, playing smaller venues…I think that is a great attitude to have for post-rock music!
Yes, we’ve played both on small and big stages. I think for this genre playing on a smaller to medium stage is way more suitable. On a big stage it’s pretty hard to concentrate!